Cotton-chopper.



Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I M A JONES COTTON CHOPPER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 19M.

M. A. JONES.

COTTON CHOPPER. APPLICATION FILED my 13, 1914.

Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

N x w M. A. JONES.

COTTON CHOPPER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. 1914.

1,163,240. Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

COLUMBIA FLANOURAFH CO. WASHINGTON, u. c.

M. A. JONES.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 13. I914.

1,163,240. Patented Dec. 7, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

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W a flttoznu s ing the chopper so andoperation will be keptv upon an economi cal basis, I

The several stated ob ects of my nvention rinse in.

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vb alt/1117mm itmay concern; I I I Be it known that I, MARTIN rLJonns, cit -v zen of the United States, residing atMciirregor, in; the county, of l/lcLennan and State of Texas,,have inventedcertainnew and useful Improvements .in Cotton-Ol1op;' per-s, of which thefollowing is aspecifica tioni This invention; relates to cotton chop pers and the primary object of thejnven tion .is to provide a cotton; chopper which may be mounted upon any cultivatorframe and .whiclrwill operate easily and efficiently v to thin outstanding cotton or otherplants which are, growing in rows.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel means for raising and lowerthat it mayoperate at the be lifted entirely clear desired depth or may from point to of the ground to be moved point ;whileyinoperative.

n; further object of provide novel in a. highly eflicient manner. I

' The invention, also, seeks toimprove generally the construction and-arrangement of thepart's of acotton chopper t the endthat the efficiency and durability of the same may be increased while the cost of production and such other incidental objects as will appear from the'following descr pt on, are attained in mechanism of the character illustratedin the accompanying drawings and the IIIVGHUOXI resides in certain novelrea tures which-will be particularly pointed out in the ,claimsfollowing the detailed descrip-. tions In thedrawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a cotton chopper embodying my present improvements and illustrating .theiposition 0f the same relative to a cult vator. Fig. 2 is a. centrallongitud nal; ,,V8lt10a l sect on of p the improved cotton chopper Figh3zisa rear end elevationcf the same. fl is a transverse sectiontaken on the line %-.i of Fig; 1. Figs. 5 and 6 are detailviewsshow ing diff rent al'ustments of ;-the chopper blade with the immediately adjacent parts for operating the; same; 7'is an en.-

large'd perspective view of I the main sup-i port frame. he i ei herar s were ashed but in; the r rreeea e at vepcanines i Specificationof Letters Patent.

the invention is to means for operatingthe chop- K per blade wherebyit will perform its work;

xilar brackets are, "also,

I I Patented Dec 7,1915. Application filed July 13, 1914. Serial 1 f0.".850,7'?0.

Fig. 8 is a detail section. through themain driving gear wheel and .itsfsupport; Q Fig. 9 1s 'il Cletftll perspective view of parts of the f same." M j Incarrying out my invention, I employ a front corners and having vertical guide ways 43 provided'on their inner sides at their front and rear edges. These xguide ways are preferably formed by providingiintegral flanges as shown at.5,i which flanges'ihave their, inner edges projected toward each' other parallel to theside'members 2 uponf which they. are formed; The inner edgest of the front flanges 5 are in the form of rack bars," as. clearly; shown, and at the upper" ends of all, said flanges 5, are lugs or b'rack-Q ets 7 wh ch project respectivelyforwardly and rearwardly, as clearly shown in Fig. 7,

Crossbars 8 are secured to andextend between the said brackets o'r lugs so as to form rigid connections between the side-members 2 whereby the said members will lie/prop erly braced and held inthe desiredgspaced,

relation. A similar connecting bar 9 is secured to the undersidesof the brackets cor.-

projections? at thelower front corners of the side members as shown and as will be readily understood; The side members 2 are cutaway centrally to reduce weight and from the frontand rear edges ofjthe open- ,inglO thus formed are extended side brackets or lugs 11 ad acent the upper and lower walls of the said openings; and these several brackets are constructed with longitudinal slots 12 fora purposewhich will presently appear. I tween theupper lugs orbrackets 11' and simfitted between the lower brackets or lugs ll at each side of the frame. These U -shapedbrackets lii are se- U-shapedbrackets 13 are fitted be-1 cured to the brackets on lugs 11 by means of bolts inserted throngh thesidejmembers of i the Ushapedbrackets and through the slots 12 of the laterally projectinglugs or brackets 11. This arrangementpermits the said U-shaped brackets to be adjusted laterally to orufrom the side member-s2 of the main. I frame so that the device ;may b e-fit ted to an arch 1 of any width. The main frame is inserted betweenthe sidemembers ofthe arch 1- as. prenatal y sta d r d: the if-s red brackets 13 are adjusted so that the main body or connecting portion of the said brackets will lie against the inner surfaces of the said side members of the arch. The main body or connecting portion of each bracket 13 is provided with a longitudinal slot 14 and a clip 15 is fitted over the side of the arch and against the said connecting portion and secured in place by means of bolts inserted through the slots 14 and the ends of the clips as will be readily understood. The'clips may thus be adjusted forwardly or rearwardly upon the brackets 13 so as to properly positionthe main frame within the arch and thus adapt the cotton chopper to be secured to any cultivator frame.

Mounted within the main frame'is a vertically movable frame which consists of front and rear standards 16 fitted within the guide-ways 4 on the main frame so as to slide vertically therein. The upper ends of these standards are connected by beams 17 and to the said beams, at about. the centers thereof, I secure the upper ends of the sides of a if-shaped bar 18 whichextends trans-- versely of the machine so as to connect the two side portions of the vertically movable frame. The lower ends of the standards 16 at each side of the machine are connected by beams 19 and secured to the said lower beams 19 is a horizontal frame 20which eX- tends rearwardly from the said sliding frame and is equipped at its front and rear ends with bearings 21 for the'chopper shaft .22. J ournaled in and extending within the side members of the U-shaped connection 18 is a rock shaft 23 having rigidly secured thereto at itsends the segmental gears 2 which mesh with the respectively adjacent racks 6, as shown most clearly in Fig. 5. ()ne of these'segmental gears has an arm 25 rigid therewith and extending rearward beyond the rock shaft, and a link 26 connects the said arm 25 with an operating lever 27 which is fulcrumed on a bracket 28 secured in any desired'or convenient'manner to the rear arch 29 of the cultivator frame. A holding segment 30 is provided concentric with the fulcrum of this lever and a latch 31 of the usual form is mounted upon the lever and is adapted to engage the said segment so as to hold the lever in a set position. It will be readily understood that by rocking the lever about its pivot the arm 25 will be oscillated and the gears 24 caused to ride upon the racks 6 and thereby raise or lower 7 the vertically movable frame, the intermeshing teeth of the segmental gears and the racks constituting fulcrums about which the rock shaft 23 will be caused to move vertically and theframe in which said rock shaft is mounted will, of course, follow the movements of the same. i. v

The chopper shaft 22 is provided at its front end with a bevel pinion 32 which is" actuated through driving mechanism to be presently described and upon the rear end of said shaft is secured an eccentric 33 and a crank disk 3%. An oscillatory arm or lever 35 is pivoted .at its lower end to the rear end of the frame 20 and to'the said oscillatory arm near the upper end thereof, I pivotally attach one end of the eccentric rod 36 i which is secured to the strap 37 passing around'the eccentric 33. 'As the shaft 22 is rotated the eccentric 33 will, of course, be carried around the same and will impart a reciprocating movement to the rod 36 which in turn will oscillate the arm or lever 35;

3f eccentrically of the same, as shown at 38, is a Fulcrumed upon the crank disk necting rod 36, oscillatory movement will be imparted to the stem 39 through the said arm and the link 41 so that the hoe or chopper blade 40 will becarried through the ground in asubstantially horizontal plane and then quickly lifted and brought back to its starting point where it will be caused to assume an inclination relative to the surface of the ground so that when it is again swung across the row of plants it will quickly and'easily enter the ground and cut through the stems of the plants to be removed. /Vith the eccentric and'crank disk adjusted asshown Fig. 5, the chopper blade will'move in the same direction as the oscillatory 'arm or lever 35 but with the eccentric and crank disk in the relativepositions shown in Fig. 6, the chopper will move in the opposite direction'to the oscillatory lever and will thus be given" a sharper and V will be understood that the eccentric is s cured to the crank disk by the bolts 42 and is loose upon the chopper shaft while the crank disk is keyed or otherwise rigidly securedto the shaft.

The main shaft 43 of the driving mechanism is mounted in brackets 44 which are secured to and project forwardly from the brackets or extensions 3 of the side members 1 as shown most'clearly in Figs. 3' and 4:. This shaft 43 extends across the front of the machine and is equipped at one end with a bevel gear 4c5' meshing with a gear 46 on the lower end of a telescopic shaft 47 which is mounted atits lower end within a bearing 48 carried bythe adjacentbracket' lt and atitsupper-end the said telescopic shaft is mounted l11 a bearing an formed'upon' a 3 bracket which is adapted to be secured to the side of the rear arch 29 of vthexcultivator frame. To permit this brackettobe: secured to the arch it is formedv with an elongated arm51 adapted to fit against the side of'the said arch 29 and to the saidarm 51 l secure clips 52 which bear against the sideof the arch and'thereby firmly clamp the bracket to the same. At the junction of the arm 51 and the bearing t9 the bracket is constructed with a hub or sleeve 53 which projects outwardly toward the adjacent ground wheel of the cultivator. A master gear 5tis fitted upon the said hub and this master gear is provided with bevel cog teeth 55 adapted to engage a pinion 56 at the" upper rear end of the telescopic shaft 47 and 18, also, provided with an annular SGIIGS of pins or projections 57 which are adapted to fit between the spokes of the ground wheel so that motionwill be imparted to the master gearby the said wheelwhen the 0111-.

tivator is drawn over the ground. To re- .tain the master gear upon the hub 53 a sleeve ,58 is inserted inthe hubfromthe outer side thereof and this sleeve is provided with an annular radial flange 59 which bears against the outer face of the I master gear as shown clearly in Fig. 8 so i that the gear will be retained on the hub between the said flange and the main portion of the bracket 50. Screws or similar fastening devices 60 are inserted through the flange 59'into the hub 53 asshown in Fig. 8, so as to retain the'parts in operative relation. At about its center the shaft 43 carries a bevel gear 61 which meshes with 7 54 and thencethrough the describedtrain gear a bevel pinion 62 fixed on the lowerend of a vertical shaft 63 which shaft has its lower ei'idstepped in block orother support 64 which is fitted loosely upon'the shaft 43-1 andis held in proper position by a bracket 65 secured to. and progeeting forwardly from the bar 9 of the main frame. It will thus be readily seen that as the machine isdrawn forward motion will be imparted from the ground wheels to the master gear of gearingto the vertical shaft 63. Slidably mounted upon the saidshaft '63 is a hevel pinion 66 which meshes with the bevel shaft so that when the shaft 63 is rotated the chopper shaft will, also, be rotated and the chopper operated. The bevel pinion 66 is held upon the shaft 63 by means of a key fitting in a groove indicated at 67 so that the pinion may slide" vertically upon the shaft. The upper portion of the shaft is reducedas shown clearly in 2 and its upper extremity. is mounted 1n sup- 32 on the front end of the'chopper' their work.

ported, by a bracket68 secured toand projectin'g forwardly from the upper cross bar 8 of'the main frame as shown. bracket 69 'issecu'red to the front cross bar of the hori-Zoiitalflframe QOand passes under. the

pinion 66 and; fits around the shaft 63 so] that when the frame 20 is moved vverticallvthe said. pinion willalso be caused to slide vertically upon the shaft 63 and the chopper may thus be operated at various depths. Should the frame be adjusted to such a .heightflthat'the pinion 66 will be around the reduced portion of the shaft 63 the rotation-of the shaft will not be impartedto the pinion inasmuch as the key on the said pinion will then be free of the groove or keyway in the shaft and themachine may then be drawn from field to field without ca sing the chopper to op- 72 extend rearwardly of the frame '20 and upon their rear extremities are mounted cultivatordisks 73 as shown. These disks are arranged to run along the ground in advance of the chopper blade and normally cutaway the loose dirt and weeds so that the resistance offered to the passage of the around the stemsofthe plantsleft stand' It will, of courseybe understood that the cultivation may be performedat the same time' as the chopping or prior or subsequent thereto as may be deemed most desirable. Upon the chopper blade 40 will be minimized. The i disks may be reversed by interchanging them sothat they will throw loose dirt up frame 20, in rear of the side members 2 of the main frame; is an arch" 7a through the top of which extend presser' bars or rods 75 having their lower ends pivoted to the cultivator beam'32 in advance of the axles of thedisks 73,"as shown clearly in Fig. 2a

Stop pins 7 6 are fitted in these presser bars or rods above the arch'liso as to prevent the rods dropping thro .5311 the arch and Lrendering the device noperative and springs 77zarecoiled around the said rods or bars between the arch 7a and stop pins 78 so that pressure will be exerted upon I the bars to hold the cultivator disks to The tension "of these springs may he obviously manipulated by fitting thestop pins78at'pointsmore or less distant from the top of the'arch.

g It is thoughtthe operation and advantages iiig and the apparatus thus utilizedas a CUltlVHtOI" aswvell as a chopper.

of my machine will be readily understood from the foregoing description taken in construction of the main frame and thebrackets and clips by which it is secured to the front arch of the cultlvator permit it to be at tached to any width of frame and, also, be

so positioned that the draft will be eiiiciently applied, while the telescopic construction of the shaft 4? permits the apparatus to be readily accommodated to the position of the ground Wheels relative to the main frame of the cultivator or the front arch of the same. The ordinary cultivator shovels may remain in position upon the cultivator frame and will thus serve to turn the soil over to-the plants after the hoe or chopper blade has cut through the row. The chopper will be positively driven and may be readily adjusted to operate at the desired depth below the surface. The entire apparatus may be quickly raised to an inoperative position when the machineis to be moved from field to field or into a storehouse. f

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new, is

1. The combination of a frame having lateral projections on its sides, brackets adjustably secured to and extending between said projections, and means for clamping said brackets to a vehicle, said meansbeing adjustable longitudinally of the main frame.

2. The combination of a frame having lateral projections on its sides, said projections being provided with longitudinal slots, brackets fitted between said projections,.securing devices inserted through said brackets and said slots, and clamping plates Cil fastened to the said brackets and adapted to secure the same to a carrier.

3. The combination of a frame having lateral projections on its sides. rackets secured to and between said projections and provided with longitudinal, slots, clamping plates adapted to fitaround a carrier and against the said brackets, and fastening de vices inserted through. said clamping plates and the slots of the said brackets.

4. The combination of a frame comprising side members having forwardly and rearwardly extending projections at their upper ends, cross bars secured to and extending between said projections, lateral brackets at the lower ends of said members, and a cross bar secured to and extending between said brackets.

5. The combination of a main frame having front and rear vertically disposed guides on its sides, a chopper-carrying frame having side members slidably fitted in said guides, racks formed onthe forward guides, segmental gears mounted on the side members of the chopper-carrying frame and meshing with said racks, and means for oscillating said segmental gears.

6. The combination of a main frame, a vertically movable frame mounted on the main frame, a chopper shaft carried by the vertically movable frame, a vertically" disposed shaft on the main frame, said shaft having a reduced upper portion and having a key-way in its lower portion terminating at said reduced upper portion, means for' rotating the said vertical shaft, and gearing connecting the said shaft with the chopper shaft, said gearing comprising a pinion carried by the vertically movable frame and having a key engaging the key-way 1n the vertical shaft.

7. The combination of a main frame, a vertically movable frame mounted therein,

- a transverse shaft supported upon the front end ofthe main frame, means at one side of the main frame for operating said shaft, a vertically disposed shaft supported on the front end of the main frame, directly over the transverse shaft, gearing connecting said vertical shaft with the transverse shaft, a' chopper shaft on the vertically movable' frame, a .gearwheel on said chopper shaft, a P1111011 sndably fitted upon the vertical shaft and meshmg with the said gear wheel,

and a bracket carried by the vertically mov-- able frame and supporting said pinion.

.8. The combination of a bracket having a lateral hub, a bearing on said bracket and a securingarm projecting at an angle to the said bearing, a gear fitted loosely upon the said hub, anda retain ng device secured to the hub and fitting 1st the gear.

The combination of a frame, a chopper shaft mounted thereon, means for rotating said shaft, a crank disk carried by said shaft, an oscillatory arm mounted on the frame,- an eccentric secured to the crank disk about said shaft, an eccentric rod connecting said eccentric with the oscillatoryarm, a chopper having a stem eccentrically fulcrumed upon said crank disk, and a connection between said stem and the oscillatory arm.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN Jonas. [1,. S

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. G.

supporting 

